Brien is survived by his wife Joyce and three sons, Derek, Andy and Barry.

Neil O'Brien was an early pioneer of quizzing in India. O'Brien conducted the first well-organised, formal quiz in 1967 at Christ the King Church Parish Hall in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

O'Brien had been exposed to the pub quiz culture in England which resulted in him bringing quizzing first to the Anglo-Indian community before it became popular among a wider audience. O'Brien remained active in quizzing, later hosting popular quiz show broadcasts, including the 'North Star Quiz.'

A former member of Lok Sabha, Neil O'Brien was also a three-time nominated Anglo-Indian MLA in West Bengal and an educationist. He was the chairman of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and managing director of Oxford University Press, India.

As a leader of the Anglo-Indian community, he was the president-in-chief of All-India Anglo-Indian Association and headed the Frank Anthony group of schools.

Earlier on June 17, he took to Twitter asking people to keep his ailing father 'in their thoughts'.

When the Great Questioner in the Sky asks u that Final Question even a quiz legend does not have an answer.Neil 0'Brien my dad. My champion